hands free mouse (patent like thing)

[Kitty Hello]

Hi,

just to keep this idea sticky here, so it's "prior art" in case it's not done, yet. So, if it's still free, I want it to be free to use for everyone.

I have to change lots of code. And need to select it with the mouse, then type or paste code.
I need 3 hands.
So, my idea is to use the head inclination for the mouse pointer position, and use 2 hands on the keayboard and have 2 special keys on the board for the mouse buttons. The incinlation of the head is an abolute position of the mouse pointer.
nod for up/down (juat as you look after the pointer on a huge screen), and roll the head (\\ - || - //) for the x direction.

Does such an app exist? If not, who want to make one?   

For the windows backend:

Code (glbasic) Select Expand


IMPORT "C" int __stdcall SetCursorPos(int X, int Y);


[Moru]

Excellent eye-gymnastics, not sure about the neck though :-)

[Ian Price]

Sounds like a head-tracker? They have existed for quite some time. Or am I missing something here?

[Moru]

http://www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/products/videos.html

[Slydog]

Or level up as a programmer.  Learn to do everything without a mouse! 
Eventually you get quite fast at selecting, copying, and pasting, just using the kb.

Learn all of the shortcuts like:
<SHIFT> + <CTRL> + <CURSOR RIGHT> -> select the next word.
<SHIFT> + <END> -> select the remaining of the current line.
<CTRL> + <TAB> -> switch tabs within an app.
<ALT> + <TAB> -> switch apps.
etc.

But I still like the idea.  It could also be used for a gesture system. (Shake your head for an UNDO command, etc)
Ideally you would only need a camera, with software similar to Kinect.  It would know your head orientation, you would just need to figure out a projected x,y cursor location.  (The video Moru posted requires a 'reflective dot' on your forehead to work).  Heck, you can use your Kinect on your PC, somebody must have programmed a mouse tracking util by now?  (Just checked, and yes, multiple options).  Just not sure of the accuracy or precision.

[Ian Price]

I use keyboard shortcuts where-ever possible, but I still like using the mouse for jumping to specific places.

CTRL+Z and CTRL+Y are invaluable for me, as are CTRL+V, CTRL+C, CTRL+A, CTRL+S. Thankfully Gernot has already implemented the important shortcuts.

I can see why Gernot thinks head-tracking is a good idea - I think it is too. Plus with all the new devices available now and the very near future (Kinect, EyeToy, Oculus Rift, Google Glass, LEAP etc. etc.) the mouse/trackpad may eventually disappear from our desktops/laptops.

[mentalthink]

I'm dissapointed whit you Ian, but perhaps you have reason in a future, I put a simple example, you rebember when mobiles have the video-Call and the people says this will be another manner to communicate, will be a special experiece.. How many people use video-CAll, I think <1% of user of phones...

This of use the eye, then "mind" or another thing not the mouse, perhaps, for the newest generation, the babies of today, perhaps they can feel affordable whitout mouse, but us?¿, perhaps you have reason and the future are this device, I hope this don't happend , don't use mouse can be very very hardest...

[Slydog]

For the Oculus Rift, I was wondering if they implemented mouse control using its built in head tracking system.  It would be easy to do!  I'm just not sure how you would 'click'. 

It would be cool to use it for a hands free video player (no, not those kind of videos ), especially 3D movies.  Have gestures for volume, scanning, etc (shake head left right, up down, etc).  Mouse control via head tracking . . . but again, how do you click!?  I have one on order, can't frikin wait!

[erico]

I think the mouse stuff will take a long time to leave computers. All software are designed with its use in core. You don´t expect software houses to change this not even in a near future. They will go by ´don´t mess with a winning team´ situation. I mean, we could actually drop the keyboard (yeah ancient typewriter stuff) too since there is tech to substitute it.

Human interface is a tough call. I have  interest on the leap controller but so far, no work-software is supporting it, so it is not usefull to me.
Sad, because I like it.

When there is work to be done, it usually means I´m going to be looking at a computer from 6 to 12h in a row.
Most of the stuff I use is best optimized to work with keyboard and mouse. Most programs won´t even work ok with a wacom tablet for example, and that is not quite a new tech at all.

I might be babling nosense...will read the full thread later today.

[Ian Price]

I'm dissapointed whit you Ian, but perhaps you have reason in a future, I put a simple example, you rebember when mobiles have the video-Call and the people says this will be another manner to communicate, will be a special experiece.. How many people use video-CAll, I think <1% of user of phones...

How many people use mobiles nowadays compared to 10 years ago? How many people use tablet and touchscreen devices compared to 10 years ago? When tech becomes affordable, desirable and easy to use it gets bought by Joe Public. People don't actually want video-conference calls, because people don't want other people to see them looking the way they do 90% of the time - undressed, knackered, without their make-up, covered in zits etc. etc. On the (non-video) phone everyone looks their best to the other party because they can't see them!

I'm not all for a mouse-less future - I'm very much attached to mine, but that doesn't mean that the mouse will always be here. Or even that it is the best alternative. It's the best we had up until now though.

I can't wait for holo-decks myself! Think of the virtual babes...

[erico]

...
I'm not all for a mouse-less future - I'm very much attached to mine, but that doesn't mean that the mouse will always be here. Or even that it is the best alternative. It's the best we had up until now though.
...

Depends on the user. If I consider the way work-software is designed, like 3d packages, editing, drawing and posteffects, then I see no other alternative to fight the mouse king yet. I could probably use an intermediate program to link the LEap to lightwave or photoshop for example, but it won´t do good (other then impress everyone around, even the girls). Problem relies on the way those programs are designed and dependent to the mouse capabilities. I have doubts the software industry will change their ways to accommodate new user interfaces. If we take a look, for example, on painting programs, I see no change at all from Deluxe Paint/COCO MAXIII to the latest version of Photoshop. They all have the same interface core design mouse+keyboard.

And I also use my phone for video conferences only. I don´t even have a cel number on it anymore. Just internet+skype+hangout+facebook+mail does my deed.
Of course that only works cause I live in a huge metropolis in a very techy area...I know I will have problems if I travel to the country side or I would not be able to do it if I had kids.

[Ian Price]

They all have the same interface core design mouse+keyboard.

That's because there has never been an alternative. Which is EXACTLY what I was saying. That doesn't mean that there won't be an alternative in the future. Why close your mind to the possibilities?

[erico]

Oh no, I´m not closing my mind. In fact I´m eager to get to a leap controller and try to do it myself, since it is more or less cheap.
I get your point, but I have mixed feelings if the industry will follow or not.

Pen tablets have been around for decades too, and till this day, very little software supports it adequately. What I mean by that is to truly use a pen as an interface instead of a substitute for the mouse. I understand substitution is, somehow, a first step we get in the industry to suggest change...but the pen case has never leaped into the computer world as it should (imho). Everyone in this world, including Joe Legacy,  can use a pen/pencil and I believe more people can use it then a mouse..still.

I will be more confident in a change when I start seeing software changes first.
But I have all hopes for the future of HI.

Last software I saw that was designed for a pen tablet in core was sculptris...

[Moru]

Back to the head-tracking system: This is not for us that has full use of our hands, it's one of the things handicapped people are already using to communicate with.

[Slydog]

There is always touch screen monitors.  Never tried one, but it still not as precise as a mouse.  Your finger also covers what you're trying to click, plus the point of contact will be somewhere on the pad of your finger.  Maybe something that tracks your finger (like a head tracking camera, or a proximity detector) so you only have to hover over the monitor, and a mouse pointer shows where it thinks your finger is.  And finger prints.

Is there a pen shaped mouse on the market, one that doesn't need a specialize pad?  Simply a trackball on the end of a stick that spins like a mouse ball would, but held like a pen?  Of course you'd need a very smooth surface for a smaller ball, but even a one inch ball may do on the end tapered to a smaller hand held form factor.  Or laser tracked.